When I first saw this challenge, I admit, I was a bit stumped. How on Earth was I going to get a blind dog to play with balls. She can't see them to chase them, and with how bad her allergies are lately she hasn't really wanted to do much (her allergy pills side effect is drowsiness). But since we had a long weekend, I figured we had time to figure out something.
And figure out something we did......kinda.
So, I thought, what balls make noise? Squeeky balls would do us no good because they could get her attention but she wouldn't be able to see them once they started rollin'. Then, it hit us. Cat balls. She has always been very gentle with her toys and never too rough with them so we figured cat balls were a good idea. Plus, she isn't a very big dog and cat balls fit perfectly in her little mouth. The biggest plus is she could hear them roll and follow the little bell inside to fetch them. Off we went to buy a pack of cat balls.
We settled on a nice Martha Stewart Pets package because they looked well-made (I didn't want to ignore the fact that we need a sturdy cat ball since a dog's mouth is much stronger than a cat's no matter how gentle), they were nice and brightly colored and were pretty loud without being overly obnoxious.
We got home and decided to start with the one that had a giant feather on it.It was a hit, she loved it. She was running all over the living room with it and I was chasing her around and crawling all over the floor with her playing with it. Then she noticed the giant feather. And the chasing was done as she plopped down to yank out the feather and then fall asleep after her work was done.
We tried the purple ball next two days later, but with even more disastrous results. Like I said, allergies have been super awful lately so she was pretty much in a lazy mood, but I tried anyways to get her moving with the ball. She sniffed it, kicked it with her foot, then went to lay down. This is how the rest of the time with purple ball went:
Not a great week with the challenge for us, but we tried. Hopefully next week can get us moving a bit more! Then on June 9th we will be participating in our local SPCA's Doggy Dash!
That was a very clever idea to get the cat balls. I'm glad they attracted her attention for a while anyway. You are wonderful at coming up with ways to adapt the challenges and make them useful and fun to Kita. So even if she didn't play a lot, it was still good. Way to go!
ReplyDeletePeggy and Kelly
What a creative solution! I am glad Kita had so much fun. I like to think that is a big part of what K9 Kamp is all about: finding new ways to play and bond with your pets. It sounds like you have been very successful in both of those areas.
ReplyDeleteKita is so cute, by the way. That last photo is adorable!
Thanks everyone! We are trying to adapt and make her life as normal as possible since she lost her sight...
ReplyDeleteI am SO IMPRESSED that you found a way to make this challenge Kita-friendly! I'm counting it as a win, even if she only really enjoyed it the first time. Maybe it's something she'll like every once in a while. Way to go you guys!!
ReplyDeleteI think you did a brilliant job on the challenge. The last photo is adorable!
ReplyDeleteNubbin wiggles,
Oskar
Thanks!! We are already working on this week's challenge!
ReplyDeleteI think you guys did a fantastic job. That was pretty creative. Another thing that might work for you guys is a whistler ball. I know that Chuckit makes them, but I think I've seen some random ones at Petco, too. They won't make noise while they roll but they whistle as they fly through the air. Might be worth a shot if Kita winds up liking to chase the ball.
ReplyDelete